This is the website of Graham Walker, Dorset, UK who has had an interest in the early piano for over 30 years. He has undertaken the restoration of instruments for private collection and has also carried out research on early pianos and their makers over this period. This has been done alongside a career in management consultancy and performance management.
Early retirement in 2007 enabled him to become more involved and he commissioned a cloth manufacturer to produce an authentic keyboard cloth. This cloth is the nearest match to an early 19th century piano cloth that can be made within modern manufacturing processes. It was initially produced for his requirements but it soon came in demand by others. Further types of cloth have been replicated by request from makers and restorers. These cloths can be purchased from the online shop on this website. He has also undertaken some research into the leather used in early English pianos and is currently working in liaison with the Institute of Creative Leather Technology, Northampton University, UK with the objective of determining specifications.
He is involved in supporting interest in the early piano and is passionate about ensuring that our heritage of early pianos collections in the UK can be maintained for the future.

The English Tangent Action Square Piano

A piano with a tangent action is fundamentally different to all other pianos. It uses a hammer that is detached from the action, known as a tangent. It is raised vertically to the strings by an action lever whereas all other pianos have a hammer that is pivoted on a hammer rail and is raised to the strings in the direction of an arc by a jack. In both types of instrument, the hammer is “set off” or released so, that it meets the strings under its own momentum. This is essential to avoid the hammer from blocking the sound.

The action of an English tangent piano has two levers of which one raises the hammer towards the strings and the other lowers the under-damper for the note to sound. This may seem complex, but it is actually a very simple design. The feel of the action is more direct with the strings than other pianos.

The image above and the two below show the parts of an Engliah tangent action from a square piano by Charles Trute that was made about 1785.

Fig. 2 This shows the separate hammer and damper removed from their positions within the piano

Fig. 3. This shows the separate hammer in its position within the piano and the leather lined slot for the damper

In Germany, both grand and square tangent action pianos were made in the late 18th century and early 19th century. These instruments often had bare wooden hammers but used several stops to create different sounds. Very few pianos were made in England with a tangent action and I am only aware of three examples that have survived, and these are in the form of a square piano.

One extant example, attributed to Charles Trute, is held at the Osaka College of Music Museum in Japan. A tangent action piano by Frederick Beck was restored in the UK a few years ago and is now privately owned. Another example by Charles Trute was in my possession recently and has given the opportunity to write this article.

Charles Trute had his workshop initially at 26 Wardour Street, Soho, London, and in 1782 he moved to 7 Broad Street Golden Square. In the early 1790’s he moved to Philadelphia, United States and continued making pianos.

The English tangent action square piano has the same functionality as the usual English square piano. Unlike German instruments, the English instrument had leather covered hammers and a single lute or harp stop. These instruments was made in the 1780’s and early 1790’s.

The action has a low profile, and this enabled the soundboard to be extended above the action to provide a much larger area. This feature was not adopted in other English square pianos until the 1830’s such as those made by Collard & Collard.

An English tangent action piano can be recognised by the external appearance of the instrument. Square pianos have a nameboard that can be removed vertically allowing the action to be removed but an English tangent action piano has a nameboard slip like that of a harpsichord below a fixed part of the piano case. Removing the slip allows the low-profile action to be withdrawn from the instrument. This can only be done after lifting out all the tangent hammers and the dampers from their respective slots.

Fig. 4 The keywell of the Trute tangent piano showing the the nameboard slip below a fixed part of the case

Fig. 5 The interior of the Trute tangent piano showing the full length soundboard

The tangent action was a design not suitable for further development in meeting a requirement for increased power and sonority of the instrument. In England the design was overtaken by other technologies in the 1790’s but instruments with a tangent action continued to be made in Germany.

It is possible that there are other surviving English tangent pianos that are unrecognised at present. If you have a square piano or are aware of one, have look to see whether it is an English tangent action piano. If you find one, it will be more valuable than your average square piano.